A Match Made in Strawberries
by Steeled For Ivory
Summary: L has always tried to make things better with a strawberry or two. And now he thinks that flowers are the next best option when he runs out of candy. Well... sorry L. Flowers ain't gonna cut it.


**A Match Made in Strawberries**

**A/N: L's a little OOC but I wanted him to turn out like that—I mean, we all know that Ryuzaki's so cute with his strawberries and candy. X3 He just needed to be kinda OOC so I could have that end result. :)**

**Also, thank you to my amazing beta and my best friend, Rebel in the Emerald Blaze. There is a link on my profile under 'Rebelle'. ^-^ **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or anything in it, but... *wraps arms around Ikari* Ikari's mine, Ohba.**

The teen held her arms close to herself, cold in the middle of the carnival. She shuddered, wondering why she had decided to wear a strapless silver dress—or why she had even bothered to come at all. It was idiotic, and of course no one would want to come with her to the carnival held each year to commemorate Valentines' Day. It was always like this, always. No one had ever kissed her, nor did she ever have a boyfriend, or a boy friend, for that matter.

The real last contact she had with any of the male population was in middle school—when the boy's father had barged in on them having a friendly conversation in the middle of the supermarket and seemed to think that something more was going on between them. Perhaps he seemed to think so as she had given his son a packet of Hershey's kisses. Till this day, she had never understood where she had gone wrong that day. Although… now that she thought about it, it hadn't been a very good idea at that time.

But maybe it was the fun, or maybe the weather. The stupid news-weatherman guy promised that since it was winter transitioning into spring, things would be warming up a little. And there were so many rides! It was such a shame that most—or nearly all of them were pointed towards couples. There was the Ferris wheel, the photo booth stand, the tunnel of love… Then there was the Haunted House. She had really wanted to go, but it wasn't enjoyable without anyone else to go with.

Looking for something to do, the girl spotted one of the lonesome seniors sitting alone on a corner bench, just like her. She tangled her fingers in her blonde hair, timid and shy at the prospect of talking to him. But… she had no one. And plucking up the courage to at least say hi to him would've been good. She could've been that kid—which she was—but that was beside the point.

She took her seat beside him, smiling lightly. "Hey there."

L looked up, his somber eyes blinking slowly. "Uh, hi."

"I'm Ikari, you?"

He took a moment to ponder his answer, causing the girl to stare at him curiously. He leaned in and put his mouth to her ear, whispering in a hushed tone. "…I'm not supposed to tell you, but I'm L."

"L? I knew a boy named L once."

"Yes, that is my name, unless there's another L around. Tell me, do you see anymore?"

Ikari didn't answer him, being lost in thought, staring at the senior who was sitting in an odd position and picking at the wrapper of his lollipop daintily. She couldn't ever recall a time that she had seen a guy do things with such care. It was mostly the other guys in school—the jocks or the nerds—there were only ever two categories, and in each one of them, no one ever kept such fastidious habits. He was different, though. He was the lone eccentric stranger who always kept to himself, always left class without a reason and was almost always seen with bags of never ending candy. There were black bags below his eyes—which were either real eye bags or just eyeliner. Maybe he was just an emo.

"Say, do you wear eyeliner?"

"…Do you think that I'm a panda?"

She was too shocked to answer.

Large eyes scrunched up and watered, giving the impression that he was about to cry. "Ikari-san thinks I'm a panda…"

Ikari was rather taken aback, not expecting him to answer in such a blunt manner. It was almost funny, even. She giggled, causing him to quirk an unseen eyebrow. It was just the rising of his forehead that caused her to conclude that he was raising a potentially non-existent eyebrow. She poked his forehead, wondering if he would flinch away. Instead, L just stared at her finger before taking it between his pointer finger and thumb, placing it back into her lap. His eyes fixated on a point between their shoulder blades until his body was turning slightly to the right.

"…You don't have eyebrows either."

"But I have candy."

A second lollipop dangled in front of her face. She gingerly picked the piece of candy up, nodding her head in thanks. It was almost identical to L's, the only difference being the shape. Hers was a heart—pink and presumably strawberry flavored—and her mind started to wander off again, curious as to why he picked such a shape from his stack of candy.

"Nani?"

Slate eyes glanced at a darker shade of sable as a blush crossed pale cheeks. "Gomennasai, L-san. I didn't mean to stare."

"Hn?" He blinked sleepily, his thumb finding its way into his mouth. "Just call me L, Ikari-san."

"O-oh." Ikari flushed even more than she had previously, unsure of why this boy was being so kind to her. Granted, he had only called her miss, but… it was still special to her. "Ikari, then."

L seemed to debate this for quite a while, only stopping once in a while to replace his thumb with his lollipop. He pouted slightly, his bottom lip jutting out. "B-but, Ikari-san, I was being polite."

She twiddled her thumbs, unsure of what to say to continue the conversation.

"So… Do you think I'm a panda?"

"Nani? Wait, iie!"

"I have panda candy. Are you going to eat that?"

Again, he picked up her lollipop, this time by the stick. He swirled it around in his tea—which he got from somewhere, she didn't really know—and popped it into his mouth. Ikari just stared at him, watching him stack sugar cubes on top of each other in a singular line. She seemed to be doing a lot of staring lately, and especially at this sweet-toothed weirdo.

"I swear I've seen you before, L-kun."

A small smile crept along his face. "At school, perhaps. There would've been a high chance that we've seen each other here."

"Iie, L-kun! Somewhere else. …Say, do you know someone named… Watari?"

"My cheesecake's called… Watari." The boy stroked his cheesecake lovingly as his toes folded over one another. It was how he usually sat, his knees drawn up to his chest and his back hunched. Ikari would've thought that sitting like that for extended period of time was painful.

She wracked her brain for another possibility. "L-kun, where were you from?"

He continued eating his cheesecake, only pausing to answer her. "Tokyo. I lived in Winchester for a short time, approximately twenty-seven point eight percent of my lifetime."

"In England? Did you live there for five years?"

"It's not polite to ask about these things, Ikari-san."

Ikari turned a deaf ear to that comment. "Do you know where the orphanage is?"

"There are a lot of orphanages, Ikari-san."

She stood up abruptly, pointing a finger at L. "OI. I know you! Arema! You're the strawberry person from Wammy's House!"

Ikari missed the slow smile that spread across his face. L's bangs toppled over in the slight wind that caressed his face ever so slightly, revealing its angular points. She hadn't noticed what he was wearing before, and forgetting all about the cold, poked his shirt. "You were that kid that always wore the same things and always walked barefoot!"

L kept spooning cake into his mouth, reveling in the sugar boost that each bite gave him. "I believe that you have a five point seven percent of being incorrect, Ikari-san."

"Don't act smart, L-kun."

"I'm just smarter than you, Ikari-san. But… that leaves you with a ninety-four point three chance of being correct. So… I do believe that you are correct."

Ikari pouted and flopped back into her seat beside him. "L-kun is so mean to me…"

An idea sparked in her head as she pointed at him for the third time that night. "Do you remember the time when you first met me, L-kun?"

"Hai." A cherry fell into his mouth.

_"Hey there! Do you want a strawberry?"_

_She snuck a glance at the boy who was approaching she before ignoring him and going back to her book, placing a strand of loose hair back behind her ear. She didn't want to pay any attention to him._

_"Helloooooooo. I'm offering you a strawberry!"_

_"Go away. I don't want it."_

_His eyes watered, growing bigger and bigger by the second as he pleaded with me to take the strawberry. He even took it so far as to shove it into her hands. "Please?"_

_"…It's just a strawberry."_

_"Hey!" His voice rose indignantly. "It's not just a strawberry, it's my strawberry."_

_Her eyebrow rose, laughter threatening to erupt as she realized that unlike her, he didn't have any eyebrows. "Then why're you giving it to me?"_

_His black orbs shifted, breaking eye contact with her as a soft blush darted across his cheeks. "Well… strawberries are sweet, right?"_

_"Yeah, and?" The girl didn't seem too sure at the point that he was getting at. "Y'know, strawberries aren't berries. Bananas are, but I like them both."_

_"Well… I'm giving you this strawberry because I think you're sweet."_

_"…Right. Well, I'm Ikari." The girl put down her book, intending to walk past the boy as she nibbled on her fruity treat._

_He caught her hand. "I'm L, Kari-chan! Nice to meet you!"_

_"Nya… who said you could call me Kari-chan? I don't even know you…"_

_The boy just shook his head and presented her with a white rose. She took it, propping her book under her arm, a little unsure of where he had whipped the flower out._

_"We have a seventy nine percent chance of meeting again, if we ever do get separated."_

_"Well… good for you."_

"Seems like you were the mean one back in the day, Ikari-chan."

"Iie, L-kun, I resent that!"

"Okay."

Ikari yawned suddenly. "It's getting late and cold."

"…I don't have anymore sweets."

"Nyeh?" She fiddled with the straps on her dress, glaring at L. "I say that it's getting late and you comment about running out of food? That's not a big deal!"

"It's a very big deal, Ikari-san! And it's not just food, it's all my candy…"

"Baka," she grumbled, stomping her foot. "How did I ever get stuck with you?"

"Ikari-san… You wanted to sit here."

She was about to hit him, pausing just in time as she spotted him waving a single red fruit in front of her. It was oddly shaped like a heart, as if by chance fate caused it to match the theme of Valentines' Day.

"I thought you said you didn't have anymore food!"

He declined to answer, instead daintily placing it into his mouth. His teeth caught the end of the strawberry as he nibbled on it slowly, from the tip of the strawberry to the top. The insomniac licked his lips, not realizing how seductive it would've come across to Ikari. She blushed, covering her face, her sterling eyes avoiding his inquisitive gaze. "I'm such a pervert," she muttered under her breath.

L didn't seem to notice. It was almost creepy, the way his eyes followed her. It was his eyes, and only his eyes that really moved, unless he decided to get up and walk. It would've been creepy, if she hadn't remembered their 'childhood' at the orphanage.

"Can I have a strawberry?"

His eyes cast downwards. "…Gomennasai, Ikari-san. I don't have anymore."

"That's okay then!" Ikari patted him on the knee, causing him to flinch away in surprise.

"Ehh? Oh, gomen ne, L-kun. I forgot…"

"Daijoubu da, Ikari-san. No need to be sorry."

He patted her bare knee, causing her too, to let out a little screech in surprise, not expecting him to do that. "Now we're even, Ikari-san."

"Kyaa!"

She swatted his hand away, causing him to shift over to the side, mumbling.

"Why don't you ever eat apples? They're red too."

"So are raspberries, cherries and watermelons. I eat them too."

"But why not apples?"

His eyes shifted sneakily over to the side. "Don't say that."

"…Apples. Apples apples apples apples. Apples."

"Kari-chan, I hate apples."

She blinked at him slowly, a little dazed. "No strawberries…"

"But I have a flower."

He plucked one of the ume that surrounded them. Ikari hadn't noticed the trees around her. It was around mid-February and the white flowers had just begun to bloom. "I know it only applies to roses, but this white hana means that I am thinking of you, Kari-chan."

Ikari was shocked to the point that some unseen force had immobilized her.

"I am not capable of adoration, or feelings of an intimate nature, like love, for example, but I will try my best." Without her paying attention and too fast for the human eye to see, L was standing awkwardly in front of her, albeit still hunched, yet in his pale hand was a bunch of plum blossoms.

"Let's start by being friends, Kari-chan."

"H-hai, L-kun."

She let him drag her off towards the fairy-floss vendor, still letting him hold her wrist in his odd little way—thumb and forefinger clasped gently around her hand, and his other hand shoved into the pocket of his jeans. The stall was only a few feet away from where they were sitting yet he strolled over, still in his hunchbacked position. "More sweets?"

"…More treats! You're paying, Kari-chan."

"Why you—"

"Iie! I just wanted some more candy, Kari-chan!"

**Kyaa~ Did you enjoy it?**

**Leave a review if you did. :D Criticism and such is appreciated.**


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